Nvidia 7600GT problem - need helpful advice!!

I just threw in a new 7600GT (running Win XP) and installed the latest drivers, as well as updated the chip drivers. I cannot get past the "detecting hardware" before getting the error:

"Second Life is unable to run because your video drivers are outdated or unsupported. Please make sure you have the latest drivers installed"

I have uninstalled, and reinstalled the vid card drivers, as well as tried several different versions of SL (even third party ones) ... all with the same result. I have even gone so far as to uninstall drivers, and used a driver cleaner, and started fresh, no luck.

I finally got ahold of a gentleman from the Live chat outworld, (and on the phone a few times with concierge) and he suggested that my driver date in dxdiag was outdated, (oct 4, 07) however Im not sure why that would matter since SecondLife uses OpenGL. I have also tried running another virtual world program, that also uses OpenGL, and it ran fine, which leads me to believe it is SL that is screwy, and not my card.

If anyone has had any similiar occurances, or helpful advice, please share! Ive spent a week trying to sort this one.

I can't help you with a direct solution. The only thing I can tell you is that I have the same 7600GT and am using the latest driver, and sl works great for me. So you might look for another conflict somewhere. I run Vista, by the way, but this card should work fine (maybe better) with XP too. Good luck!

I also run a 7600GT with Vista and it runs fine.

However, when i first got the PC SL and the sometimes the PC itself were crashing big time (But only when trying to run SL evrything else video etyc etc was fine) and i was getting several different Nvida driver error messges, all of which was totally misleading as in the end the problem was resolved by reseating a RAM stick......

So what with the missleading error messages and that fact that no other programs gave any trouble it was just a little frustrating!

B

Have you completely removed *all* previous drivers for the former video card before physically installing the new card and then updating drivers? Sometimes performing an upgrade without doing a clean uninstall can play hobb with the new card and drivers. ATI used to have a driver removal/cleanup utility, and now so does nVidia if you search either site.

Also, like Billy said, a general health check and clean up can help. Re-seating and making sure all devices, cables and cards are firmly socketed will go a long way to make sure stuff is where it belongs. Also more difficult to diagnose but causing random crashes can be failing DVD/CD-ROM drives and power supply units. Those will have to be professionally checked if you do not have the equipment to do so.

I personally pull the covers off of everything every two months, hit the dust bunnies with a can of compressed air for sensitive electronics and put a finger atop of everything that is in a socket and give it a little push. Keeps everything ticking over fine!

Thank you for the replies!

I have since ran another Nvidia driver file cleaner and started the process over again with fresh installs of the appropriate drivers and secondlife, but again no luck.

As for a general health-check of the machine, it got a good cleaning last night. I just put in a new Raidmax Volcano 630w PS, so yeah everything got a good finger push and blow (lol).


This is rather mind-boggling! I really appreiciate everyones input, and please if anything else comes to mind let me know.

There is a little utility that you can download from nVidia called nTune or something like that. DO NOT run it per-se but download and install it because it allows for temperature monitoring of your video card's processor chip. If that heats up past a certain point (85-90 degrees C.) you'll get artifacting, crashes, glitches, etc. Sometimes you get one that escapes the factory with an ill fitting heat sink or not enough pasty goop to fill the voids between the processor chip and the heat sink. I re-did a "failing" card like this and got immediate 30 degree drops in temperature and super stability. So that may be a possibility too.

If there are any SLI or Molex power connectors on the video board, make sure they are hooked up to current too. Some of these cards can sometimes run in the socket without the additional power header, but not for long. It overtaxes the computer motherboard's power FET regulators creating random crashes. My cards will not allow the system to boot and sound a piercing beep if not all 4 power headers for them are not plugged in.